The True Outer Heaven
Prologue
This has been nagging me since I wrought my first author note so I am going to go ahead and establish the kind of story I am shooting for.
Enjoy
Jack
To call this last month eventful is a massive understatement. Thought this may be The Ripper talking I can say I did find it quite enjoyable and well… distracting. All my former colleagues still wondered why I would have to go back into the military.
My answer to them was the same, "Rose is still struggling with her own finances this is my way of chipping in." Oh, how I wish it was as I said, to be with her and John to be the happy little family that everyone always talked about.
It is kind of ironic it's a perfect spring day and yet here I am standing in a graveyard still wondering how this could have happened. Well that's not true I know exactly how it happened it was one of the main reasons I signed on with Maverick to get back into the war of the PMC's. Africa was a hot zone of the literal corporate battlefield. Those bastards left over from The Patriots were regrettably not there, and by now they have probably found the darkest hole to hide in after going at the rest of us were it most hurt.
Though I must say that it was an eye opener on his and my past. Sam and Armstrong were very much right in their ideals it was arguably the same thing Naked tried to do. All three just believed their actions were a means to an end. The only difference is the senator was to far gone to even try to find a way back. As much of an asshole Sam was he could very much think for himself had he not gone after Marshal we might have even been friends. Have to admit the senator does have a way with words to people like us.
As ironic of a scene, it is there is no better place for Rose and John. Lying here in the dim shades and glimpses of sunlight on top of a peaceful and distant hill. We always said this would be our summer vacation spot where we would build a cozy log cabin of oak wood; with only the glistening lake in the distance, and the greenest fingers of grass we had ever seen. It was the one place I could think that would do her love and beauty any justice. It would have been perfect just us, John, and nature.
It is here for the past week I have lived in a single-storied three-bedroom cabin with only the sun beating down on the soft and dark wood reminiscent of her own hair. It was nothing overly extravagant which just made it the little charm it was. Though without a doubt I could say that it would be the house of my death bed. No, I don't plan on getting killed anytime soon, but my last hours of life will be in this house so I could have at least a chance to join me, wife, once again… Who am I kidding with the things I have done I will be joining all the rest of em in hell.
A sudden ring ran throughout the house as I broke out of my trance I slowly get off the leather couch, and make my way around the island cut off to my kitchen to pick up a simple wall phone.
"Didn't I tell you to stop fucking calling me I don't want any of your 'new and improved' nanomachine system."
"Well if you would let me talk for one damn minute Jake then you would understand we are in desperate need of your services again." Came the voice of an old Colonel Campbell.
"Colonel shouldn't you be in retirement by now you aren't the man you used to be."
"I still got some strength left in here." The weak attempt at a laugh came lowly through the phone
"Some I wouldn't push it what do you need I am currently trying to take an off break." It was a bit rude but, going back into the service was not my idea of mourning.
"Going to skip all the shit and get straight to the point, after your little run-in with Armstrong World Marshal is leading some covert ops in Afghanistan to get their way back into the war economy."
"Would be happy to kill more of those bastards, however, I am still trying to collect myself after everything." Was my snarky reply.
"What if I told you the group, in particular, leading these operations was one of the splinters of the old Patriots." He couldn't mean…
"It was a group that lead Desperado at their start The Sons of Zero." As much as I wanted to laugh at how much they wanted to sound like Liquids squad; these were the guys who got the cleanup duty and Rose just happened to be just another piece of trash to them.
"Were do I start?" I don't care how far down this rabbit hole I have to go I will kill the lot of them and avenge Rose's and John's death
1/4/19
0537
Afghanistan
Hindu Kush Range
Cyber Enhancements Research Facility
Directives: Defend against all former Patriots members and hired PMCs
Disable Tango Alpha 1-1 and capture for questioning
The one thing I have always wondered was how this Johnny guy always survived every infiltration Snake has been in; though luck or not he's not surviving this. Quickly hoping out of my vantage point in one of the taller trees overlooking that mass of metal they call a facility, I fire one shot and this man's days of bad bowel movements are over. With a quick flick, the blood over the Mursama is discarded and is sprayed on to a nearby tree. Slowly moving away from the pool of crimson over the deck of the fading forest I once again blend back into the shadows of the hillside.
I have to hand it to Sam's family they sure do know how to make a blade and one that works fairly well. As I come to the peak of the hill overlooking the valley of the R&D facility I quickly find targets slowly but surely converging from the east and west side. 'Pincer tactics really can they get any less creative I know the lot of em are assholes, but I didn't expect them to be dumbasses too.' I thought half amused as I only got an indication of 20 armed men within a 10-mile radius.
Using the stealth training I got from FOXHOUND I slipped in and out of the zigzags of the pine light brown trees. Then eventually reaching a point where I could almost make out the glistening of their sweat on their dry skin I tossed today's version of a death, at first sight, an EMP. The electric pulse flew out in all directions shocking anything and everything that just happened to be in the area. As the artificial lighting calmed down as time for me slowed to a crawl which I then used to begin my massacre shooting out from my position I reach the first grunt in no time flat. The red colored electricity shoot through my arms which then grab the hilt of my blade, and then sliced in an upward arc. The sight of the blade pressing into his insides got me a little bit giddy seeing the tear of his flesh which poured out hot fluid as it went by to then reveal his inner organs shredded in one direction.
This was the start of The Rippers revenge as the Mursama poked out from the top of my first victims head covered with a beautiful red liquid which soon became the aura around my own body. With a new rush of energy and excitement, I appeared before the second soldier that was one of the new heavy classed cyborgs. His thick coating of titanium compressing over his body hid a new challenge a built-in machine gun resting on his left thigh which came to meet my face as soon as I got in front of him.
"New toys huh! All the more fun." I quipped with a mad grin as I dove to the right side only to find the gun in front of my face again.
"Temporal Distortion neat little piece of equipment Desperado came up with a while back. Now you can't take us down that easy." He cockily boosted.
"Wouldn't be too sure you should know not to monologue too much on the battlefield or else this happens." I shoot back as I had just a millisecond launched to behind his back and already had my red blade on his hip.
"Wha!" Was the only thing that was able to leave his mouth as the sword already pinched into his hard armor weakening its bonds to the point where I reached his skin in no time. Which tore through is softer cyber skeleton releasing an almost brown liquid as his skin was cut through in a horizontal arc leaving his guts free to fly and his glowing blue power source up for grabs. Tearing out his spinal battery I proceeded to crush it letting the liquid insides of it fly everywhere.
"This is Coon to Panther we need back up stat!" The scared shitless comms operator spat out quickly.
"Are you dumb or do you just want to die faster, either way, you just sealed your fate that EMP should have fried all comms you could possibly have." To say he was afraid was the understatement of the year as I could have been the grim reaper himself and he would have been less scared.
"You forget about us jackass." Yelled the already dead soldier as his shoulders and hips would never meet again with the diagonal slash that pierced anything he could have called protection. The crimson insides of his sprayed the rest of his comrades freezing them in place out of straight fear.
"How nice of you six to stand still to feed my insatiable bloodlust," I said in a tone that would give Snake himself nightmares. The giddy feeling, I felt when tearing each limb from limb I could only describe as euphoria sealing the fact that Jack The Ripper is back. In a blur, limbs flew in every which way masking the ground and air with a red mist that blanketed the battle field which then proceeded to land making a truly modern art masterpiece.
"Plea-ase don't …ki-kill… m-me!" The comm operated stuttered in fear of everything he just saw.
"Kill you oh no no no Jack is going to have some fun first."
"Sh-o-ow mer-er-cy plea-ase."
"Show you mercy you mean like you did with Rose and my little boy John. I am going to do much more than torture you I will make you feel some much pain you will wish you were already killed. Then I will leave you to the wild so they get a piece of yo…Shit!" I yelled as I noticed the small nanomachines in his ear. He was using codec comms that means…
"Well well look what we have here boys a lost cyborg trying to play hero." A man in a black plated exoskeleton with green strips that appeared to be made out of the new nanoweave skin; a light and one of the most durable materials in the world. On his hips were twin dark green tonfas with black blades attached at each end. Probably the most interesting thing was his helmet that covered everything except his dark electric eyes which seemed to flow into the helmet with multiple indentions of dark green.
"I ain't play no hero just out to kill the lot of you so where is your squad or are you just that cocky." I said with malice dripping from my voice.
"Oh, and I thought you were smart Jack The Ripper they are right here." He said with his seemingly overconfident voice as he flipped to the side revealing an exact clone of him then repeating the process till there were ten of them.
"That is a very egocentric trick do any of your enemies get bored having to face the same redundant assault ten times over." I quipped at him as each one drew their tonfas
"As a matter of fact, no since they are all dead in under ten seconds." Came his reply as they all launched forward. Thinking quickly, I launch myself into the air just in time to dodge their attacks when I noticed his one drawback already.
"You call me stupid your first attack literally just revealed all they do is mirror your own movements." I said with enough cockiness to match his own. As I land down on top of their tonfas all in the middle then as I was about to break their formation with a swift kick three of the clones split away to slice at my exposed leg that then proceeded to start dripping blood.
"How naïve to think that you could figure me out in one attack you are right about one thing there is a drawback, but you will have to find that yourself." He stated with what was fake disappointment in his voice as one of the tonfa sets flew around to try to catch my face which in response I tossed the Mursama forward to my boot as I backflipped around to catch it and struck close to the jugular of the clone that got close.
"Agh!" all of them shouted at once as each one covered the place I clipped on the other clone with blood dripping from the same spot. Perfect I only need to focus on one as I shoot towards the closest one still reeling in pain with my blade extended which was blocked as two sets of tonfas moved into a defensive position stalling me for a second too long. The very next second two came from behind at blinding speeds with one coming over top I am then forced to activate my Zandatsu which then he matched as instead of being able to engage I was forced to make the snap decision to slide between the legs of the clones in front this plan worked better than expected as his clones were about to stab themselves. To bad my luck is some of the worst as the clones faded into clouds of nanomachines that were then absorbed by the real body.
"Not half bad you survived my initial assault only other man to do that was named Samuel Rodrigues. You have earned my respect allow me to introduce myself I am Alex Foremen call sign Panther."
"Raiden that is Tango Alpha 1-1 primary target take him alive we can't have him dead with the political statues his relatives hold." Came Campbell over the codec.
Before I could get back control over Jack and respond Alex cut in.
"I must say you are a very entertaining opponent I haven't had this much fun since torturing that traitor what was her name again… ah yes, Rosemary." He said with a gleefulness that wanted to make me even in ripper mode puke, but the name he mentioned stopped me from doing that.
"I hope for your sake I just heard you wrong because if you just said the name Rosemary you will find no refuge in even hell," I said with the most toxic of venom dripping from my voice.
If you are below 18 or cannot handle mature topics do not read the next bit of dialogue this is a line that was said to a close friend of mine who he and his wife were natives in Afghanistan that did not agree with the terrorist group during the war on terror only with his permission did I write this.
"Oh, did I hit a nerve. Oh yes, she was very entertaining her screams as I fucked her were the most whorish I have ever heard she must have been quite the slut as she seemed even to moan and scream as I peeled her flesh away burning our symbol into the traitor."
I may be a demon with how I enjoy the thrill of a kill but this thing known as Panther could not even be described as the devil incarnate. Saying how much anger I felt could not do justice to this fire that burned in me; an absolute need to kill this thing that hides behind its cybernetic mask.
I tuned everything out around me I couldn't even tell you the parts of machine and blood that flew everywhere. If Campbell tried to calm me down I couldn't hear all that mattered was slicing IT piece by piece. (I may write this fight in 3rd person later on as an extra if you guys want it but putting it right here would just ruin this)
Time was something that didn't seem to exist anymore I couldn't tell you how long I sliced at it and his eventually dead body which I kept beating. The only thing I remember is looking at its dead mutilated body and spitting on it.
I stood there for maybe 10 minutes looking at the cadaver before looking over the valley. The facility in its cold harsh look was not touched. At least part of the mission was complete.
"Raiden do you realize what you have just done!" Campbell yelled over the codec
"I don't give two fucks Campbell that man did the most unimaginable thing on the planet even from my perspective." I said with venom from earlier still coming from my mouth
"Damn it Raiden ugh this will be such a headache to come up with an excuse for, but there is one last thing one of them managed to slip into the facility and is currently laying havoc to the entire establishment. You need to stop whoever it is and quickly dispatch them." Growled Campbell in a very much agitated voice.
"Copy." I said simply not wishing for any more of an argument that would lead nowhere. I quickly moved forward to the decline sliding down through the brush and weaving between the trees coming up on me in just a few seconds I am in front of the metal compound. Doing a quick scan through my optics I read over ninety heat signatures inside. 'Guess he brought back up time to get my mind off of things.' I think to myself with a slight grin knowing it was going to be a bloodbath.
Spotting an overhang, I hop up and make my way across the suspended metal flooring to a very thick metal door. No plan, no other way, and 90 foes to face just the way I like it. Shooting the Mursama out from its holster I make one single diagonal slash cutting the door in two and burst in only to find nothing.
"What are my optics getting glitchy again?" I asked myself slightly annoyed, but not hindered guess there really is one person or he/she has some weird power to make false heat signatures. Wouldn't be too out of the realm of possibility considering people like Pyscho Mantis.
I already am getting an uneasy feeling about this I see no dead bodies or wrecked equipment. Could Campbell have gotten false intel or worse intentionally given false intel? No way even if he is a hard ass at times he has even helped us when we were going against what seemed like the US itself. Though I can't rule it out either.
It was the tiniest of noises, but not one that escaped me a pivot of the foot from the sound. Suddenly I shoot to eight'o clock to where the noise was only to be met with pain.
"GAAHH!" I yelled out as I suddenly felt a burning pain in my chest. Then I come face to face with what should seemingly be a phantom.
"How are the children doing Jack." Said the deep and gruff voice of what should have been the late Sundowner.
"I cut you to pieces how the hell are you still alive." I Seethed through my teeth as whatever pain I felt was coming from something of his making.
"Well, I am not as dumb as you think Jack I used every resource I had to be able to keep on living as I knew just from the new look of you I wouldn't stand a chance when we faced. There was just too much of a skill difference so using our studies on brains I was able to transfer my mind to one of the new artificial brains." He said so matter-a-factly that you wouldn't believe he was the same person.
"Well hope your few extra weeks of life were worth it cause it ends now," I said trying to maintain some kind of composure with this searing pain.
"Why yes, it does along with yours so it can bring rise to the new La Li Lu Le—Patriots."
"Excuse me!?" I quipped
"The Patriots goals were always brought down by some from FOXHOUND all the ninety heat signatures you saw were cloaked operatives of the unit; oh, and Campbell well we got him talking enough we could use his speech pattern over comms neat little trick wouldn't you agree." Sundowner said in his pleased voice.
"So why do you die?" asking one last question just to hear myself talk over this man
"Well someone has to do the killing and the only way to do that is to release the cyber virus FOXDIE quite ironic don't you think. Sadly, this virus can only be released to machines in a radius around it and is so good at its job no one has a countermeasure." Said with a stoic and slightly somber voice.
For a good half hour, it just stopped at that sentence as we had a staring contest for who knows how long as we both knew it was our deathbed.
"You're not the actually Sundowner, are you?" I asked knowing something was up.
"Perceptive as ever you see this body was a very useful tool the Patriots are some of the most skilled scientists in the world able to make a body like this a controllable unit. You attacking was an excuse to start a war between the middle east and the US. I am not lying when I say Panther really did those things it just made it all the better that he was actually the prince of Saudi Arabia. This is the chaos we need for the war economy to see Zero's goal through… to…the….. e.n..d." As his body finally gave out leaving me alone to the cold floor and truth. This was it 'Rosemary I am so sorry I couldn't be with you at the end I hope you go to a better place than I do.'
All my strength all my hard work over the years finally all slipped out of my body as an eternal sleep came over myself.
A mixture of cold and hot was all I could feel as my eyes shoot open to an unfamiliar environment that could only be described as pure chaos fires were lit along the streets and on houses in the area around me. I also then noticed the feeling of wind around me like I was being carried by a runner. Looking up I see a face that gives me a strange warmth even though it's a face of one of those anthropomorphic hedgehogs shown on those cartoons people used to watch. The only difference was this was real.
I noticed a great many things around me as I saw objects appear larger than they should and the fact that not only was this chaos but it looked like a war zone. I couldn't tell much more about it from my perspective other than the smell of smoke and sight of blood.
The next moment I realize we are ascending steps of what appears to be a temple.
"Hurry quickly your kind must survive this!" I hear what appears to be a red echidna yelling at the woman who is holding me and the people behind her.
"Chief we must close the doors the enemy is close we cannot risk those already here!" Shouts a brown echidna this time. I will skip their sappy overused argument and just say in the end the doors were closed. As the doors closed the light of the fires outside no longer illuminant what appears to be the main chamber of the temple with seven pedestals surrounding a square platform. Though with the shadows creeping in the strangest thing happens my new tiny form begins to glow red like it would for The Ripper.
"Can it really be!" I hear the alleged chief say with almost a joy in his voice.
"Bring the infant here we must see if it is true." The chief says in a rushed tone. The woman currently holding me must know exactly what he meant as she brings me to the center square platform and sets me down.
"Oh, great seven chaos guide us with your knowledge of dark and light revel to use that which is might." The next thing I know seven emerald shaped objects begin to float toward me and surround me with a circle of light which then turns to the red of which I glowed.
"He is the chosen guardian of the seven this is a game changer we can turn the tide and win this forsaken war." Around me, there are shouts 'hooah' around me that turns to a chant as the chief asks," Mother of the seven what is this child's name?"
"He has yet to receive one." She stated
"Then here and now as the new guardian of the seven, he will bear the name of our hardships that come over us. This child's name shall be Shadow the Hedgehog guardian of the seven chaos!"
Yeah bit cheesy at the end this will probably need a lot of polish, but I have a starting ground of sorts to work with constructive criticism helps as long as it isn't mindless flaming so thank you for bearing with it. Also be aware I might tweak this chapter a bit for a change of pacing, more impact, and overall just have it written better; before I start the next chapter. RIP Adela Assaf may she be in a better place. Anyway, thank you guys for reading and I don't own Metal Gear the franchise belongs to Konami and Sonic to Sega please support the official release. I hope to get into Sam next chapter or Snake so ideas are welcome.
USMCKyuubi
P.S.
This was all done solo for a starting ground of sorts. This allows me to take what I have written here improve and flesh it out more, however I would really like to have either a beta reader or editor for the future if anyone is willing to voulnteer.